Friday, 28 June 2019

Antibiotic
resistant infection is a leading threat to public health worldwide. It has been
estimated that by 2050, more people could die from infections that are no
longer treatable with antibiotics, than from cancer. Understanding how some
bacteria have been able to overcome our natural immune defenses, and new drugs
as they are introduced, is the key to preventing a future where up to 10
million people could die each year from antibiotic resistant infection.

A
new study led by a research team from Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard
Medical School describes how bacteria adapted to the modern hospital
environment and repeatedly cause antibiotic-resistant bloodstream infections.
Infections acquired by hospitalized patients are more often
antibiotic-resistant than those that occur elsewhere, and hospitals invest
considerable effort to prevent them. Despite best efforts, some bacteria are
able to persist and circulate among patients, causing repeated infections.

This
study examined one of the first sustained hospital outbreaks of a
multidrug-resistant bacterium, Enterococcus faecalis, which occurred from the
early through the mid-1980s, causing over 60 outbreak strains.